It is well known in the subterranean well drilling and completion art that relatively fine particulate materials may be produced during the production of hydrocarbons from a well that traverses an unconsolidated or loosely consolidated formation. Numerous problems may occur as a result of the production of such particulate. For example, the particulate causes abrasive wear to components within the well, such as tubing, pumps and valves. In addition, the particulate may partially or fully clog the well creating the need for an expensive workover. Also, if the particulate matter is produced to the surface, it must be removed from the hydrocarbon fluids using surface processing equipment.
One method for preventing the production of such particulate material is to gravel pack the well adjacent to the unconsolidated or loosely consolidated production interval. In a typical gravel pack completion, a sand control screen is lowered into the wellbore on a work string to a position proximate the desired production interval. A fluid slurry including a liquid carrier and a relatively coarse particulate material, such as sand, gravel or proppants which are typically sized and graded and which are typically referred to herein as gravel, is then pumped down the work string and into the well annulus formed between the sand control screen and the perforated well casing or open hole production zone.
The liquid carrier either flows into the formation or returns to the surface by flowing through a wash pipe or both. In either case, the gravel is deposited around the sand control screen to form the gravel pack, which is highly permeable to the flow of hydrocarbon fluids but blocks the flow of the fine particulate materials carried in the hydrocarbon fluids. As such, gravel packs can successfully prevent the problems associated with the production of these particulate materials from the formation.
In other cases, it may be desirable to stimulate the formation by, for example, performing a formation fracturing and propping operation prior to or simultaneously with the gravel packing operation. Hydraulic fracturing of a hydrocarbon formation is sometimes necessary to increase the permeability of the formation adjacent the wellbore. According to conventional practice, a fracture fluid such as water, oil, oil/water emulsion, gelled water or gelled oil is pumped down the work string with sufficient volume and pressure to open multiple fractures in the production interval. The fracture fluid may carry a suitable propping agent, such as sand, gravel or proppants, which are typically referred to herein as proppants, into the fractures for the purpose of holding the fractures open following the fracturing operation.
It is also well known in the subterranean well drilling and completion art that it is desirable to install smart well or intelligent well completions that enable the management of production fluids from different parts of the production interval or intervals. Specifically, these smart well completions typically include one or more sensing or control mechanisms such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, flow-control devices, flow rate measurement devices, fluid composition measurement devices and the like. These smart well devices are typically operated using one or more control cables that include hydraulic lines, electrical lines, fiber optic bundles and the like. The control cables provide for communication between the smart well devices and the surface such as transmission of sensors data to the surface or transmission of commands from the surface to operate a flow control device from one operational state to another.
It would therefore be desirable to combine smart well capabilities into a sand control completion. Accordingly, attempts have been made to combine smart well capabilities into a sand control completion. For example, prior art completions have included convention sand control techniques for a lower zone followed by the insertion of an upper zone completion with a siphon string that is stabbed into the lower zone completion. A valve within the siphon string controls flow from the lower zone. Production from the upper zone flows through the annulus between the siphon string and the upper completion into the casing annulus and a flow control device is used to control flow from the annulus into the production tubing. This type of configuration, however, has limited applicability as only two zones can be controlled in this manner.
As another example, a multizone, single trip completion has been attempted wherein each completion includes an upper packer, a sand control screen having a blank base pipe, a flow control device and a lower packer. Production from the lower zone or zones flows through the interior of the flow control device and blank base pipe, while production from the upper zone flows through an annulus between the filter medium and the blank pipe of the sand control screen into the casing annulus and through the flow control device into the production tubing. While this type of configuration may be used to complete more than two zones, flow from each zone is severely restricted due to the relative small annular area between the filter medium and the blank pipe of the sand control screen.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a sand control completion having smart well capability that provides for the monitoring and control of production from multiple zones within the completion. A need has also arisen for such a sand control completion having smart well capability that is not limited to a two zone completion. Further, need has arisen for such a sand control completion having smart well capability that does not restrict production from the multiple zones being produced.